1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an image forming apparatus capable of executing contact and/or separation between developing rollers and photoconductors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses form an image on a printing medium according to an input signal, and correspond to a printer, a copier, a facsimile and/or a multi-function apparatus having combined functions thereof.
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which is a kind of image forming apparatus, includes photoconductor units including photoconductors, charging units arranged, for example, around the photoconductor units and charging the photoconductors with a designated electric potential, developing units including developing rollers, and a laser scanning unit. The laser scanning unit irradiates the photoconductors charged with the designated electric potential by the charging units to form electrostatic latent images on the surfaces of the photoconductors, and the developing units supply developers to the photoconductors on which the electrostatic latent images are formed to form visible images on the photoconductors.
In an image forming apparatus in which developers are supplied to photoconductors by contact between developing rollers and the photoconductors, the developing rollers and the photoconductors may contact each other if a printing operation is executed. The developing rollers and the photoconductors may be separated from each other so as to prevent interference between the developing rollers and the photoconductors if the developing units are replaced.
To apply pressure to the developing unit or release of pressure applied to the developing unit, a separate component, such as a lever, may be used. If plural developing units are used, levers equal in number to a number of the developing units may be required. Thus, the configuration of the image forming apparatus may become complicated and the space utility of the image forming apparatus may be lowered. Since application of pressure to plural developing units or release of pressure applied to the plural developing units may be respectively executed, the quality of an image may be lowered due to a deviation generated between the respective developing units. Thus, the convenience of the image forming apparatus to a user may be lowered.